


birthdays and trees

by experiment



Category: Naruto
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-07
Updated: 2018-05-07
Packaged: 2019-05-03 15:44:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14572266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/experiment/pseuds/experiment
Summary: Naruto's ten years old and he's sitting in an orange and red and yellow tree.





	birthdays and trees

“Ten.  _ Ten. _ Ten years old,” Naruto says to himself as he swings his legs. The tall tree he’s sitting on offers a view of the fireworks and lights as they rise above the village. It’s October tenth; the Kyuubi festival is in full swing, and Naruto wasn’t invited. Well, maybe invited isn’t exactly the right word, Naruto thinks. Welcome works better. 

 

But that’s okay. Naruto’s fine right here by himself in this tree. 

 

The branches are covered with red and yellow and orange instead of the green that most of the trees in Konoha have. He thinks he’s heard something about it in the Academy- something to do with Sengu (Senju?) Hashi and his wood jutsu. Whatever. It just means this tree’s leaves match his jumpsuit, and his hair, and his skin, and that means he blends in really well. 

 

Naruto thinks that’s pretty cool. The fireworks popping and fizzing against the stars are almost that awesome, but not quite. This tree is orange and tall and the top branches are wide enough for him to sit on. It’s his favorite tree, out of all the ones he’s sat on. 

 

No sticky sap or anything,  _ and _ \- as an added bonus- there’s this one bird pair that always nests here, so in the spring he gets to climb up and see little fluffy chicks. Naruto thinks they’re pretty darn cute. The mama bird even let him hold one of them after he brought some bugs a couple years ago, and since then, he’s seen one of the birds or the grown-up chicks about once a week on his window. 

 

Maybe it’s the favorite part of the week, but Naruto’s not admitting anything. Naruto smiles, slightly. Huh. He’s got a favorite part of the week.

 

He’s never thought of it that way. Naruto’s got his favorite tree, and his favorite birds, and the taste of the autumn wind in his mouth. He’s got the crackle pop of the fireworks bursting in the sky right before his eyes. 

 

“Ten years old,” he says out into the air. “Huh.”


End file.
